


Desire is Craving

by Brumeier



Series: From the Ashes [3]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Babies, Community: mcsheplets, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Kid Fic, M/M, Pregnancy, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 22:23:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11564541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Children & Parents prompt:any fandom - m & m - adoption or surrogacyIn which Amy craves ice cream, and Rodney craves the big family he and John have been trying to have.





	Desire is Craving

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marcus_aquila](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcus_aquila/gifts).



> McSheplets Prompt #259: Craving

_Desire is craving enough to sacrifice for_. – Myles Munroe

* * *

“I don’t think –”

“You’re not here to think. You’re here to drive.” Amy scanned the offerings at the ice cream stand. There were a lot of them. “I’ve been craving ice cream all day.”

Rodney didn’t bother pointing out that it was only five past noon, and the place had only just opened. He normally didn’t make a habit of arguing with pregnant women, especially the ones carrying his babies, but it was unseasonably hot and the sun was strong.

“They could at least have an awning up for shade,” he griped instead.

There were a couple teenage kids ahead of them, taking their own sweet time. One of the boys was flirting with the girl on the other side of the order window, though even Rodney could tell she wasn’t interested.

“Maybe a banana split,” Amy mused.

Rodney nodded. “Potassium is good. The doctor said –”

“I know what he said, I was there.”

“I’m just trying to –”

Amy turned and looked at him, one eyebrow raised. She had a heavy smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose and along her cheekbones from sun exposure, and her face was fuller than usual from all the weight she’d gained.

“I know, I know,” Rodney said with a sigh. “Stop fussing.”

It was hard, though. They’d waited a year after the miscarriage, and both Rodney and John had been a mass of nerves when they decided to try again. Every doctor’s appointment had been charged with apprehension; they’d learned that a pregnancy was never too far along for the worst to happen.

Rodney had been plotting everything out in a spreadsheet – blood sugar levels, heart rates, belly measurements, Amy’s moods – looking for patterns or anomalies that might signify impending disaster, but so far the pregnancy had been pretty smooth sailing all things considered. That didn’t stop him from waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Amy sighed and put a hand on the small of her back. “Maybe a brownie sundae.”

Rodney’s phone dinged and he pulled it out of his pocket. He had a text.

_You ordered yet?_

_Still waiting. You want something?_

_Mint chip shake. Have a craving._

“That John?” Amy asked, trying to see the screen.

“You two are sharing cravings again. He wants a milkshake.”

Amy grinned, and then grimaced as she shifted. 

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“You should go sit in the car, put the AC on. It’s too hot out here.”

“I’m fine, Rodney.”

But Amy didn’t look fine, so Rodney turned on the teenagers. “Hey! I have a very pregnant lady here who needs to get out of the sun. Wrap it up already!”

In their defense, the kids were very apologetic once they saw Amy and her enormous belly. They got their ice cream and left, and Rodney put in John’s order. 

“You’re up,” he said to Amy.

She leaned heavily on the counter, ignoring the _Do Not Lean_ sign taped to the window. “I’d like a banana split, but can I also get brownie with it? Like, on the bottom? One scoop of chocolate ice cream, one scoop of mint chocolate chip and one scoop of raspberry. Hold the pineapple, but I’d like extra hot fudge and caramel. Oh, and chocolate sprinkles.”

Rodney stared at her, incredulous. “Are you kidding me? That’s a diabetic nightmare!”

“Lucky for me I’m not diabetic.”

“Not yet.”

Rodney paid for the ice cream, and then they waited. He was absently swatting at the flies that were buzzing around when Amy intercepted his arm and twisted it so she could look at his watch.

“Ow! What are you doing?”

“Trying to count the time between my contractions.”

There was a long moment when Rodney was certain he was having a stroke. The girl behind the window thrust the milkshake at him and he took it with his free hand, staring at it while his brain tried to make sense of what was happening.

“Are you telling me you’re in labor right now?” he asked finally. “Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Seven minutes apart. We have plenty of time.”

“She’s in labor?” the wide-eyed counter girl asked. “Kelly, hurry up with that sundae!”

“We have to go!” Rodney tugged his arm free so he could dig in his pocket for his car keys. “We can be at the hospital in ten minutes!”

“Not without my ice cream.”

“Thirty-seven weeks. That’s not unusual for multiples.” Why was he having such a hard time getting his keys out? “It’s perfectly normal. Dr. Blankenship said…wait. You can’t be serious. We’re not waiting for the stupid ice cream!”

Amy glowered at Rodney. “This will be the last thing I get to eat until I deliver these babies. Which could be an hour from now, or fifteen hours from now. So yes. We’re waiting for the ice cream.”

It took a lot to intimidate Rodney, but he knew better than to cross Amy. He remembered how aggressive she’d been during Lily’s delivery, and that had just been one baby. This time she’d be giving birth to two.

“Hurry up!” he shouted through the window. He finally got his keys, and he put his fob between his teeth so he could text John.

_Get everyone to the hospital. We’re in labor!_

John’s reply was a thumbs-up emoji followed by a surprised face emoji and three hearts.

The ridiculously oversized sundae finally got passed through the window and Amy had a blissful look on her face as she took ownership of it. 

“Oh, yeah. Come to mama.”

Rodney grabbed a handful of napkins and herded Amy towards the car.

“Good luck!” the ice cream girl called out after them.

*o*o*o*

The lights were dimmed in the hospital room and Amy was asleep. Gillian had gone home a little while ago, so it was just the five of them: John, Rodney, Lily and the babies.

“Rodney,” John said, his voice hushed. “Stop taking pictures.”

“Just a couple more,” Rodney insisted. His phone storage was nearly maxed out, but he continued setting up shots. He’d taken pictures of the babies with everyone: Amy and Gillian, John and Lily, Jeannie, Kaleb and Madison, even Dr. Blankenship.

“Poppa, come see them,” Lily stage-whispered. She was curled up next to John on the other hospital bed.

She couldn’t stop touching them, marveling at their tiny toes and fingers, and pressing gentle kisses to the tops of their heads. When they’d originally broken the news to her that there’d be two babies instead of one, she’d insisted that her ‘baby in heaven’ had sent the extra so they wouldn’t be so sad.

John slid off the bed, a baby in each arm, and walked over to give Rodney a kiss. “Hey. It’s okay.”

“I know.” And yet he hadn’t gotten close enough to touch the babies, using his phone and the pretense of taking pictures as a shield. 

“That’s because you’re a genius. Sit down.”

Lily patted the bed. “Poppa, sit with me.”

Rodney reluctantly pocketed the phone and sat on the bed. He gave Lily a hug and a kiss, and signed _I Love You_. She signed it back. And then John was handing him the babies, one for each arm, and he forgot to breathe.

“Ten fingers each. Ten toes,” John said softly. “They’re perfect.”

They _were_ perfect. High Apgar scores, and no immediately obvious health issues that necessitated them being in the NICU. They both weighed over six pounds, which was a good size for twins.

“This one is Robbie,” Lily said. She ran her finger over the back of her brother’s tiny hand. The baby snuffled in his sleep.

Robert. Named for Rodney’s grandfather, one of the few members of his family that had treated Rodney with kindness when he was growing up.

“And this one is Leia.” Named by Lily, of course, after her hero Princess Leia. She’d campaigned long and hard to name her brother Luke but Rodney and John had both agreed that was going a bit too far.

They both had wispy blonde hair and chubby little cheeks, and would probably keep their blue eyes because John had campaigned, too, to have Rodney be the sperm donor this time around even though Rodney was still secretly sure that it was some wrong thing in his genetics that had caused the miscarriage.

“They’re really okay, aren’t they?” Rodney had a lump in his throat he could barely swallow around.

“You did good,” John said. He sat behind Rodney and Lily on the bed and wrapped his arms around the both of them, hugging them close. 

“I love my new babies,” Lily said.

“They’re gonna love you, too, Bumper,” John replied. 

“Can we get a puppy?”

Rodney turned back to look at John and they both started laughing, trying hard to keep it muffled so they wouldn’t wake Amy.

“Maybe once the babies get a little older, kiddo,” Rodney said when he got himself back under control. He was surprised all the jostling hadn’t woken Robbie and Leia. His tiny, perfect babies.

In the morning they’d take the twins home and Rodney knew that’s when the reality of having two newborns would sink in. Twice the crying, twice the diaper changes, twice the laundry. It would be noise and chaos and everything Rodney had been craving over the last year and a half.

He pressed a kiss to each tiny head. For the first time since the miscarriage the thought of the child he didn’t get to hold in his arms wasn’t achingly painful. In his heart he’d always be the father of four, and he’d always feel that loss, but it would make the time he had with Lily, Leia and Robbie all the more precious. He wouldn’t take a second of it for granted. 

“I love you,” John murmured in his ear.

Rodney leaned back and kissed the side of John’s face. “Love you too.”

“Love you most!” Lily chimed in.

“Love you best!” John said. He laid a wet, smacking kiss on her cheek.

Lily giggled, the babies woke up and started to cry, and Rodney couldn’t stop smiling. They’d built a new life out of the ashes of the old one, and he had every intention of making the most of it.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** So, this is partially a true story. When my mother was in labor with me she stopped at Dairy Queen to get a hot fudge sundae. She was timing her contractions on the clock on the wall, and everyone noticed and let her go ahead of them. By golly, she was getting that ice cream!
> 
> I’ve been wanting to write a follow-up to 13 Weeks for a while, but I didn’t know how to approach it until this McSheplets prompt went up. So hopefully now you can all forgive me for the unrelenting feels I brought with that one. ::grins:: Marcus_aquila, this is for you. You know why. ::hugs::


End file.
